Sports
Column: 'I don't see why not.' Diamondbacks primed to take down Dodgers again
Torey Lovullo is L.A. through and through: born in Santa Monica, son of a Hollywood producer, played his high school ball at the old Montclair Prep in Van Nuys, starred at UCLA. He managed the Arizona Diamondbacks into the World Series last year, but he cannot persuade his friends and extended family to surrender their allegiance to the hometown Dodgers.
“About 80% of my family,” Lovullo said, “are Dodger fans.”
He goes to neighborhood holiday parties, where the talk is how great the Dodgers are going to be with Mookie Betts or Shohei Ohtani or whoever. His mother bleeds Sedona red, but the spouses of his siblings do not, and neither do most of his high school and college friends.
“There’s no conversion there,” Lovullo said. “They’re 100% bleeding Dodger blue.”
That could make for a lighthearted subplot this weekend, with the Diamondbacks within three games of the Dodgers in the National League West before Thursday’s action. The teams open a four-game series here Friday, with the postseason five weeks away.
The latest Baseball Prospectus projections give the Dodgers a 100% chance of making the playoffs, the Diamondbacks a 97% chance. The Diamondbacks eliminated the Dodgers from the playoffs last year, and they could do it again this year.
“I don’t see why not,” Arizona pitcher Merrill Kelly said. “I definitely think we’re a better team than we were last year, top to bottom.
“If we can beat them then, we can definitely beat them now.”
The Diamondbacks, remember, were the last team into the playoffs last year, a team that finished 16 games behind the Dodgers, a team that won 84 games in the regular season and then dismissed the Dodgers in three games in October.
When America says “fluke,” the Diamondbacks shrug.
“I think most people thought it was a fluke,” Arizona president Derrick Hall said. “We sort of limped and backed into the playoffs, and then we got hot at the right time. Look at the World Series matchup: It was two wild-card teams that barely got in.”
Said general manager Mike Hazen: “I think any reference I have heard for the last year — including when I talk about it — is that we were an 84-win team. That is automatically implying we were a fluke. And I get that. I think it’s fair. If you’re an 84-win team, you shouldn’t have the expectation that you are going to play in the World Series.
“We got hot, and we played well, but we wanted to springboard off that. We didn’t want the story to be that we were just a fluke. We worked hard at that this offseason, to ensure that what happened last season was hopefully the first of a few appearances in the postseason, and not just one and done.”
The Diamondbacks spent the money to get better, which is what you want. The results were not what you want, at least not at first: Pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez, who vetoed a trade to the Dodgers last year, signed for $80 million, then suffered a shoulder injury in spring training. Pitcher Jordan Montgomery, signed for one year and $25 million, carried an ERA over 6.00 into the All-Star break. Outfielder Corbin Carroll, signed for $111 million during his 2023 rookie of the year campaign, was batting .210 with two home runs through June.
Montgomery is in the bullpen now, his ERA still above 6.00. Rodriguez finally made his season debut this month; he is undefeated in four starts. In July and August, Carroll has 15 home runs, and an OPS above .900.
The Dodgers have the superstars atop their lineup, but the Diamondbacks lead the major leagues in runs scored. They get on base more often than any other team in the NL, running up pitch counts and ousting starters early.
“The Dodgers have been the prime example of that,” Lovullo said.
Every Arizona player with at least 100 at-bats has an on-base percentage over .300. On Wednesday, the Diamondbacks won when their No. 8 and No. 9 batters drew two-out walks in the eighth inning against Edwin Diaz, the star New York Mets closer, and Carroll followed with a game-winning grand slam.
All that offense is all the more impressive at a time they are winning with arguably their three most productive hitters this season on the injured list: cleanup batter Christian Walker, catcher Gabriel Moreno and second baseman Ketel Marte, whom Lovullo chose over Ohtani as the NL leadoff batter in the All-Star Game.
The Diamondbacks’ Corbin Carroll celebrates after hitting a go-ahead grand slam in the eighth inning against the Mets on Wednesday night.
(Rick Scuteri / Associated Press)
The reinforcements and the revived include a veteran platoon at designated hitter — Dodgers alum Joc Pederson (career-high .946 OPS) and Angels alum Randal Grichuk — third baseman Eugenio Suarez, who leads the NL in runs batted in since the All-Star break, outfielder and former first-round pick Jake McCarthy (.809 OPS) and catcher and former second-round pick Adrian Del Castillo (batting .354 in 14 games).
The Diamondbacks acknowledge Betts and Max Muncy have missed significant time and the Dodgers have won without a lineup at full strength, just as Arizona has.
Still, the national reaction hits different when the topic is Walker, Moreno and Marte here as opposed to Ohtani, Betts and Freeman in Los Angeles.
“The Dodgers have been a national brand for however long they have been around,” Arizona pitcher Zac Gallen said. “They have been the team in the NL West, and they have been in the playoffs for however many years.
“Not to take anything away from those guys — you’re talking about three of the best players in all of baseball — but I would be intrigued what Ketel Marte’s case would look like in terms of MVP if he didn’t play in Arizona. What does it look like if he is playing in one of those big markets? Is it as strong as some of those other guys?”
Ohtani leads the NL with 42 home runs. He is batting .295, leads the NL in OPS and ranks second in RBI and stolen bases. Marte is batting .298 with 30 home runs; he ranks third in OPS. He also plays a key defensive position; Ohtani is a designated hitter.
Baseball Reference has Ohtani leading the NL in WAR (6.7), followed by Marte (6.0). Fangraphs has the Mets’ Francisco Lindor leading the NL in WAR (6.6), followed by Ohtani (6.4).
Ohtani should win the MVP race, but the Diamondbacks would be fine if he won and they made back-to-back appearances in the World Series — this time, followed by a parade.
The Dodgers have seven pennants on display at Dodger Stadium, one for each of the seven World Series championships in franchise history.
The Diamondbacks proudly post 10 logos high above the outfield at Chase Field, in recognition of one World Series championship, two league championships, five division championships, and two wild-card berths.
Frankly, Lovullo said, he would like the Diamondbacks to display World Series championships only, just as the Dodgers do. That, of course, would require winning multiple World Series championships.
“That’s what great organizations do: the Yankees, the Dodgers, the Red Sox, to name a few,” he said. “They don’t just do it once. They validate it by doing it over and over. I hope we get to that point one day, but it’s still a young franchise. It’s only 25 years old. It’s going to take a little time to get to that level.
“In 100 years, I do hope that we have nothing but world championships up there, and that our group and our time was responsible for hanging a couple of those banners.”
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CM Punk appeared on “Friday Night SmackDown” ready to take on any challenger that was ready to step to him after winning the Undisputed WWE Championship against Sami Zayn.
Punk entered the ring in Oklahoma City and called back to the “Monday Night Raw” after WrestleMania 42 when he told Cody Rhodes he’d be ready to deliver if a championship opportunity fell “out of the sky.”
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Cody Rhodes and CM Punk face off during SmackDown at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Okla. (Craig Ambrosio/WWE via Getty Images)
“When championship opportunities fall out of the sky, CM Punk catches them,” he said.
Punk named potential SmackDown superstars he’d think might come for the title, including Gunther, Finn Balor, Royce Keys, Damian Priest and Trick Williams. He even said that Zayn could come back around and get his rematch if he wanted. He didn’t mention Rhodes’ name, but the “American Nightmare” came out uncalled and marched his way down to the ring.
“I don’t think you and I can run away from each other anymore,” Punk told Rhodes.
Cody Rhodes looks on during SmackDown at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Okla., on July 10, 2026. (Craig Ambrosio/WWE via Getty Images)
Rhodes agreed and mentioned that Punk would want a match with him, just “say when.” It was a quick retort from Punk, who said, “when.” SmackDown general manager Nick Aldis, who was in the ring for the segment, booked the match for SummerSlam.
Punk will defend the Undisputed WWE Championship at SummerSlam, which takes place Aug. 1 and 2 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
First, however, Punk and Rhodes will be involved in a tag team match at Saturday Night’s Main Event in New York City next week. Aldis made the match after Gunther demanded that Aldis put him in a match against Punk. Gunther was hoping it would be for the championship. Instead, Gunther will tag with Zayn.
Gunther didn’t take too kindly to that and attacked Aldis. Rhodes came back out to break up the calamity. He wanted to take on Gunther after the show went off air but Gunther walked away.
Gunther makes his entrance during SmackDown at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Okla., on July 10, 2026. (Rich Wade/WWE via Getty Images)
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Punk definitely has his hands full as he moves to SmackDown to become a fighting champion.
World Cup tourists are coming to L.A. for the soccer, but they’re staying for the $21 smoothies and Double-Doubles.
As the last Los Angeles FIFA World Cup event ended Friday, soccer fans were eating like locals and famous chains from the region were cashing in.
In the weeks that L.A. has hosted the World Cup, international soccer enthusiasts have flocked to big brands from the area, often in large groups wearing their countries’ jerseys.
It is a phenomenon seen at many of the host cities. In Dallas, giant gas station Buc-ee’s is the main attraction. For people visiting New Jersey, deli shops have been a hot ticket. In L.A., the place to be between matches was Erewhon.
Thirsty international sports fans gathered for pictures outside different Erewhons, wandered their aisles smiling, and, of course, picked up pricey smoothies.
While Erewhon would not comment on its business, mobility data company Arity, which uses phone data to track consumers, said Erewhon visits at the outlets around SoFi Stadium were quadruple what they were a week earlier on June 12, the day of the U.S. national soccer team’s opening match there.
Arity looked at what stores people visited within a 10-mile radius of SoFi that day and also found surges in visitors to nearby El Pollo Loco and Trader Joe’s.
Locals have spotted groups of people in Korea jerseys huddled together, trying to decide what to order at In-N-Out.
Some complained on social media that international tourists at Trader Joe’s were buying up all the mini canvas tote bags.
Soon after the Belgium vs. Spain quarterfinal ended Friday, the In-N-Out near SoFi had a long line of soccer fans stretching out the door in bright red and yellow and black jerseys and matching striped hats and scarves.
One of the workers said he had to explain “spread” and “animal style” to foreign football fans.
“I didn’t know this place existed,” a fan from Romania said while waiting in line.
Los Angeles and other cities and states that have hosted the event need the soccer fans to spend money to make the event worth all the time, effort and money it requires.
A rosy 2024 report projected the World Cup could bring more than $800 million to the L.A. region as 180,000 people converge on the area to sleep, eat and spend.
There were early concerns people weren’t turning up for the event because of the high ticket prices and the difficulty of obtaining visas for citizens of some countries.
However, at least for some L.A. hotels, there was a surge of last-minute visitors which pushed up occupancy and room rates.
While sports fans are not in the region to shop, they do make time for it.
World Cup customer spending is also apparent in beer sales. Andrew Heritage, the chief economist at the Beer Institute said beer purchases at entertainment and attractions in L.A. – outside of World Cup spaces – were up around 10% from normal.
“That tells me that fans in the L.A. area have decided to extend their stay and take in all the other things that the area has to offer, rather than just the match itself,” he said.
On social media, the purpose of these shoppers is clear: grab a quick souvenir or local specialty and take a selfie.
The data from Arity suggests that fans are very efficient when they spend at local spots, diving in, getting what they want and getting out as soon as possible, said Jeff Schlitt, a director at the company.
“Normally you’re there for an hour. They’re going to be there for 15, 18 minutes,” he said. “Why is that? Because they were purpose-driven shoppers.”
For some travelers, the more popular American chains aren’t unfamiliar. But some of the native L.A. fare still comes as a surprise.
As one Belgium-Spain matchgoer from the Netherlands stood taking a picture of the In-N-Out sign after the game, he said he’d never had a burger like the one he’d just tried.
“We only have McDonald’s and Burger King,” he said. “It’s way better.”
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The face of baseball will not be at Tuesday’s All-Star Game.
Shohei Ohtani was scratched from his start on Friday as the Los Angeles Dodgers said he will also miss the Midsummer Classic with what the team called left knee irritation.
Ohtani, for obvious reasons, has become an All-Star Game fixture. He has earned the honor in each of the past five seasons and made his first start in 2021.
Starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers warms up before the MLB game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on June 03, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
The two-way phenom is on his way to winning his fifth MVP award in his last six seasons as he is hitting .290 with a .939 OPS and pitching to a minuscule 1.79 ERA, the second-lowest in the sport among pitchers with 80-plus innings. His OPS is also the seventh-best mark in the league.
The Dodgers said Ohtani will be the team’s designated hitter up until the break, but he will “have some interventions on his knee to put him in the best position for the second half of the season.”
Ohtani dealt with knee issues earlier in the season.
It is certainly a big hit for the game as the other face of the sport, Aaron Judge, will miss the game due to a fractured rib that has kept him out since late May.
Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers gets ready in the on deck circle against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on June 01, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images) (Norm Hall/Getty Images)
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Ohtani hit 99 home runs combined in 2024 and 2025, leading the National League with a 1.025 OPS in that span. Ohtani did not pitch in 2024 after elbow surgery but returned to the bump last year and owned a 2.87 ERA and 11.9 K/9, a figure he also put up in 2022 that led the American League.
The “Japanese Babe Ruth” is the only player in MLB history to have 300-plus plate appearances and 40-plus innings in six separate seasons (Ruth only did it twice and never stole 50 bases), and he has more than excelled at both.
Shohei Ohtani pitches for the Los Angeles Dodgers against the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California, on May 13, 2026. (Gary A. Vasquez/Imagn Images)
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Ohtani is not hitting like he has in the past, but certainly the best pitching performance of his career will make up for it. He “only” has 20 homers and 56 RBI this season.
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